I have been using ERUNT for a while and really like this program to
backup my registry.

Click to expand...

Antartica, I use this program, too, and I'm happy with it. There is no problem with it if you are always logged in as adminstrator. But since you are certainly a security-aware computer user I'm sure you created a user account (with restricted rights) which you use for surfing and working in order to prevent most malware spreading out on your computer, didn't you?

Note that in this case there is an application problem with ERUNT: It is only possible to backup the open registry files NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT for the user currently logged in (besides DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY and SYSTEM). If you want to have a complete registry backup you will have to log into your admin account, switch to your user account via FUS (in order to open NTUSER.DAT and USRCLASS.DAT for that account), switch back to your admin account and start ERUNT. This is the only way to have a complete registry backup if more than one account exists. (This is only necessary for the registry backup, NOT for the recovery of the registry via ERUNT!)

Lars Hederer, the ERUNT programmer, confirmed this to me via email. I asked him why he hadn't described this procedure in the ERUNT guide. His answer: It's because most Windows users only use their default admin account anyhow, and he didn't want to confuse ERUNT users more the necessary ...
Well, no comment about this from my side, but every ERUNT user should be aware of this problem.

What about NTREGOPT? Is it worthwile to optimize the registry
and is it safe to use it?

tlu,
Yes, I did have a user account with restricted rights. So thanks for the warning. I didn't know about this application problem with ERUNT. But purely by luck, I always save my registry when I am on administrator account.